What is Natural Disasters

In this paper the authors discuss what a disaster plan entails and the steps that need to be taken for an institution to create such a plan, including taking advantage of all the new opportunities to provide a more comprehensive disaster plan through new technologies such as mobile applications, cloud storage and online reference tools. A disaster is a sudden change of situation, because of this, the planning for such an event needs to be done well ahead of time so that adequate training can be implemented and the response to the disaster can be quick and effective. As much as apathy, avoidance and lack of resources can be excuses as to why we have not created an institutional disaster plan, being prepared and trained to handle the different types of emergency disasters that can befall a library or archive is the best way to ensure that the materials will remain protected and the damage done to them in the case of an actual disaster is minimized. The steps outlined in this chapter will help any library or archive in the creation of a successful disaster plan and help them understand why some disaster plans fail.